Disney Universe

Game Category: Platformer - Kids, Movie Tie-in
Developer / Distributor: Eurocom / Disney Interactive Studio
Release Date: 25 Oct 2011
Rating: ESRB - Everyone 10+

Suit Up. Power Up. Team Up
Just more than 6 months ago, Disney Interactive Studio released their latest platformer game, Disney Universe, on several different consoles as well as the PC. The game comes with 6 large worlds to explore that are based on animated films and live action movies from both Disney and Pixar. The 6 are the Pirates of the Carribean, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, The Lion King, Monsters Inc., Aladdin, and Wall-E.

Plus you get to explore these worlds wearing 45 different costumes depicting various characters from Disney's entire universe of movie releases. The handful of costumes unlocked at the start of the game are: Jack Sparrow, the grinning Cheshire Cat, Pumbaa the warthog, Randall the multi-legged lizard monster, Princess Jasmine (appearing in Aladdin), Hal the cockroach (from Wall-E), Mickey, Tron, Donald Duck, and Angelica Teach (another character also from Pirates of the Carribean).

Dreams do come true

Hoping to leverage on a framework that encourages players to purchase new worlds and extra costumes, the publisher has so far released quite a handful of character packs (but no new Worlds). They include Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Muppets, Phineas and Herb, and a motley selection of Disney villains like Cruella de Ville, Hades (from Hercules), Maleficient (from Sleeping Beauty) and more.

Unfortunately, there have been no DLCs released for PC players. We seem to have been neglected and must sit back and grumble while playing the main game. Here's hoping that the DLC sales effort over on the XBOX360 and PS3 online networks will justify whether we PC owners ever get to see them. Grrr... if ever.

You see, Disney Universe is a very good platformer that's sure to keep you occupied for many hours, but then I'm jumping the gun here. So, read the rest of the article to see what I mean.

Time to play as the pompous Red Queen

Story
There's a new virtual world in town and it's known as Disney Universe. Live your wildest dreams by putting on your favourite costume from a huge range of Disney characters. The said costumes are easily slipped onto your child-like avatar, and each comes with a huge hood that resembles the likeness of your chosen Disney character.

While taking an online tour of the place guided by VIC (short for Virtual Information Cube), you witness something peculiar taking place; VIC freezes up and acts strangely, like he's re-enacting a modern drama of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Apparently, VIC loses the battle as he morphs before your very eyes into HEX, a black cube-shaped alter-ego that's hell bent on conquering the entire Disney Universe with his menacing minions.

Welcome to the Disney Universe

It's up to you to don on a costume of your choice, then set off to explore each of the 6 worlds alone (or with up to 3 other players). Hopefully you can put a dent into HEX's machinations and stop his evil little plans.

Choices
You have several options from the main menu:

World Select throws you straight into the game after picking the world you wish to play in. You can access the Pirates of the Caribbean world at first, while the rest will need 2000 gold each to unlock.
Costumes lets you admire the new skins you've unlocked in the game.
Player Area tells you how much of the game you've completed as well as to check out the badges you have won for yourself.
Playlists allow you to pick your favourite (unlocked) areas that you wish to play.
Viewer is the achievements module that can be used to look at the 3D models of the bad guys, admire concept art, and listen to in-game music that you've unlocked.

In the first area of the first level of the
Pirates of the Carribean world

Game Play
Each of the 6 worlds comes with 3 levels, and each of these levels has 3 areas. If you do the maths, you'll find yourself exploring 54 different areas in the game - now that's quite a lot of area to cover in a platformer game. Expect to take at least 6 hours to complete the entire game, and that's not even counting the possibilities of unlocking every little surprise the game has in store for you.

You control your suited-up avatar via the arrow keys and jump with the space bar. You have two other keys that control the ability to grab, pick up, or to interact (via the V key) and the ability to attack, fire, or throw (via the C key).

You will find yourself having to grab, pick up, or to interact with many objects in Disney Universe. Most often, I've found myself having to drag objects and using it to unlock or repair something.

Stand next to the cannon and use it with the V key

Here are some examples: drag the barrel of a cannon and affix it to a carriage base to have a working cannon, or drag a key to a chest and use it to get to the treasure that lies within, or drag a magical hourglass across the sand revealing hidden treasures found behind swirling icons marked on the ground.

As you explore an area, you will trigger the appearance of bad guys that come in several sizes and shapes. There's the basic fodder, a troublesome brute, a flying fodder, and larger and faster variations that are quite tricky to defeat.

Battles - this is where the C key comes in. You can attack with what appears to be some kind of fly swatter held by your avatar. Otherwise, if you have the necessary equipment or tool, you can fire a cannon, or even throw bombs and water bags (and in case you were wondering, you need the latter to put out fires, and grow seeds planted in the ground).

Your enemies ain't stupid... watch out!

You have a couple of special attacks - the most useful of which is to double jump and then perform a ground slam attack. This will help you out if you are surrounded by enemies (and it happens quite often), or when you want to take out hazards (like the irritating spiked traps). Watch out too for enemies that are able to ride animals found in some of the levels.

Enemies that have been vanquished leave behind gold that you can use to purchase additional costumes from the main menu, so don't miss out on collecting as much as you can. You should also collect stars from locked treasure chests, and world-specific bonus items (like a ship in a bottle for the Pirates of the Caribbean world). The former will upgrade your fly swatter weapon (up to a maximum of level 4), while the latter will unlock models, media, and music.

Don't step on the black hazard squares (lower left corner)

From time to time, you will also chance upon a lone arcade machine lying in an area. Approach it and take on the challenge that it presents. Once a challenge starts, everything else in the vicinity disappears allowing you to concentrate on winning the challenge. Challenges may be as simple as vanquishing a set number of enemies within a prescribed time, or avoiding bombs falling from the sky, or even collecting a set number of gems.

When you complete the 3 levels of a world, you will get to free a prisoner found right at the very end. This prisoner actually gives you access to a costume, so it's definitely worth your time trying to complete a world. And if you complete a world fast enough, you will also earn for yourself gold medals. So keep at it, and practice a lot. Don't forget to replay worlds to unlock even more prisoners.

Time to play a challenge!

Graphics, Interface, and Audio
The developers have made the main menu user interface fun to look at - the cubes lining the level rock to the beat of the background music. Your menu choices are displayed in an orderly fashion, and you can navigate by pressing the left or right arrow keys and use the space bar to select.

The in-game graphics is marvellous. It is divided into gorgeous 3D backdrops, beautiful foreground 3D structures, and cute 3D models of your avatars and enemies. Everything feels so alive in the Disney Universe and oozes its own personality that you can't help but gawk at what they've built here. Some set pieces are reminiscent of scenes taken from the movies, like the city of Agrabah from the world of Aladdin.

A Stitch in time saves nine

The music soundtrack in Disney Universe is truly excellent in terms of variety and thematic style; there are at least 42 tracks in the game, all masterfully arranged and evoking memories of the fun and exciting times while watching the actual Disney films. The sound effects sound really good and so is the voice acting (what little there is).

There also quite a significant number of movie cutscenes in the game, most of these are amusing skits showing HEX's minions doing something comical. They are definitely worth your time, however there's no gallery to see them in their entirety. It's worth noting that the sound quality in the movies is equally crisp and sharp.

The evil minion and the Magical Lamp skit

Pros:
This is a PC platformer's dream come true!

The levels in Disney Universe are a visual feast; they are designed with such imaginative flair that you can't help but admire the effort put into creating them.
The game play truly oozes great appeal, especially with all the ideas and concepts borrowed straight from the actual Disney films.
There are well-thought out game play concepts that make each world unique. For example, the Pirate Ship bosses in Pirates of the Caribbean were fun to battle, and so were the flying scarabs and magical hourglass that made walking across chasms in Aladdin an interesting experience, as well as the seeds that need to be planted and watered to access hidden areas in the world of The Lion King, and of course - upside down play in the world of Monsters Inc.

There are lots of these around waiting to be spun

This is game is truly lengthy, with 54 uniquely designed areas to explore.
The AI in the game is quite smart; the trap layers really know how to make your life a misery, and the flying fodder are really irritating to try and destroy.
The music featured in the game is catchy and well done.
There are lots of costumes, and other achievements waiting to be unlocked.
The game features fun cooperative play for up to four players; so get your entire family to play Disney Universe today.

I earned for myself a gold medal

Cons:
DLC exclusivity on consoles truly rankles me, plus there's a whole lot of other minor problems too.

You can't get access to DLCs that are available online only for PS3 and XBOX360 console owners.
Combat is really a chaotic affair that you often just wind up button mashing to eliminate a horde of enemies.
You can't really see the detail for areas that are further out in the 3D scene; it's easy to make a misstep in such cases.
Some of the areas are really tough to complete.
The challenges become repetitive after a while.
Donning different costumes don't really give you any difference in game play.

Amazingly tough, isn't it?

Conclusion
Disney Universe turned out to be quite a surprise for me. Most of the scenes from the game brought back nostalgic memories of the times I spent huddled in a freezing theatre watching a Disney animated film.

Most of all, the game play variety, quantity and quality provided for in the game really works well here that I wonder if one day we PC users can finally get our hands on a new world to explore in some obscure corner of the Disney universe. Let alone, getting access to several coveted DLC costumes like Kermit and Miss Piggy.

Until that day comes, I'm just going to have to slash 0.5 points off the final score. That's for not appeasing us PC owners (tongue-in-cheek).